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2016 Marks Milestone Year for Real Estate

January 3, 2017

The London and St Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) announced 2016 was a historic year for real estate, with residential sales surpassing 10,000 for the first time. In 2016, a total of 10,193 homes were sold, up 8.8% from 2015.

"Overall, it was an incredible year for residential real estate in our region," said Stacey Evoy, LSTAR 2016 President. "Throughout 2016, we observed high demand with low supply that contributed to a very robust marketplace. Six months of the year saw their best sales since LSTAR has been tracking data, which speaks to why the industry thrived in 2016."

In 2016, a total of 8,260 detached homes were sold, an increase of 9.2% over the previous year, while there were 1,933 condominium sales, up 7.2% from 2015.

"We saw a 10.4% decrease in the number of home listings, with a total of 14,867 listings for the year," Evoy said. "This illustrates the high demand and low supply, with inventory (what we call Active Listings End of Period) down 39.2%."

St. Thomas had another strong year, with a total of 854 homes sold, up 2.9% from the previous year. The average home price in St. Thomas was up 7.7% over 2015, at $233,476.

House Style

Units Sold

Average Price

2 storey

2,550

$383,082

Bungalow

1,803

$226,283

Ranch

1,153

$341,800

Townhouse

895

$173,161

High rise apt. condo

460

$173,205

The best-selling house style in 2016 continues to be the two-storey, followed by the bungalow and ranch. The average price for a detached home in 2016 was $297,480, up 5.4%, while the average price for a condominium was $200,335, up 5.6%. The average price of all homes sold in 2016 through LSTAR's MLS® was $279,057, up 5.5%.

The following table is based on data taken from the Canadian Real Estate Association's (CREA) National MLS® Report for November 2016 (the latest statistics available). It provides a snapshot of how average home prices in London and St. Thomas compare to other major Ontario and Canadian centres.

City

Average Sale Price

Vancouver

$940,900

Toronto

$780,047

Victoria

$652,237

Fraser Valley

$634,597

Hamilton

$520,353

Calgary

$469,766

Kitchener-Waterloo

$415,136

Ottawa

$380,003

Edmonton

$372,565

Montreal

$359,615

Niagara

$338,970

Saskatoon

$335,424

London St. Thomas

$290,489

Canada

$496,351

According to a research report1, one job is created for every three real estate transactions and approximately $53,000 in ancillary spending is generated every time a home changes hands in Ontario. "It demonstrates the tremendous impact that the real estate industry makes in growing our local economy," Evoy said. "When we look at 2016's home sales in LSTAR's jurisdiction, that translates into about $540,229,000 being generated into the economy and producing approximately 3,398 jobs."

1Economic Impacts of MLS® System Home Sales and Purchases in Canada and the Provinces, Altus Group Consulting, 2013